Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:36:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JanainaSB.pdf: 2453259 bytes, checksum: d4ce3e2bc8b59c2bee9fa61810a98832 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-29 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico / The thalamus plays an important role in the sensorial processing information, in this particular case, the visual information. Several neuronal groups have been characterized as conductors and processors of important sensorial information to the cerebral cortex. The lateral geniculate complex is one to them, and appears as a group very studied once it is responsible, in almost all totality, for the processing of visual information. Among the nuclei that constitute the lateral geniculate complex we highlight the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (DLG), the main thalamic relay for the visual information. This nucleus is located rostral and lateral to medial geniculate nucleus and ventral to thalamic pulvinar nucleus in most of the mammals. In the primates humans and non-humans, it presents as a laminate structure, arranged in layers, when observed in coronal sections. The objective of this work was to do a mapping of the retinal projections and a citoarchictetonic and neurochemical characterization of DLG in the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a New World primate. The retinal projections were traced by anterograde transport of subunit b of cholera toxin (CTb), the citoarchicteture was described by Nissl method, and to neurochemical characterization immunohistochemicals technical were used to examine the main neurotransmitters and neuroatives substances present in this neural center. In DGL of marmoset thalamus, in coronal sections labeled by Nissl method, was possible to visualize the division of this nucleus in four layers divided in two portions: magnocellular and parvocellular. The retinal projections were present being visualized fibers and terminals immunorreactives to CTb (IR-CTb) in the DLG ipsilateral and contralateral. And through the immunohistochemicals techniques was observed that DLG contain cells, fibers and/or terminals immunoreactives against neuronal nuclear protein, subunits of AMPA 15 glutamate receptors (GluR1, GluR2/3, GluR4), choline acetyltransferase, serotonin, glutamic acid decarboxylase, binding calcium proteins (calbindin, parvalbumin and calretinin), vasopressin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, and an astrocyte protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein. / O t?lamo exerce um importante papel no processamento de informa??es sensoriais, em particular, a informa??o visual. V?rios grupos neuronais j? foram caracterizados como condutores e processadores de informa??es sensoriais importantes para o c?rtex cerebral. O complexo geniculado lateral ? um deles e aparece como um grupo muito estudado uma vez que ? respons?vel, em quase toda sua totalidade, pelo processamento de informa??o visual. Entre os n?cleos que constituem o complexo geniculado lateral destacamos o n?cleo geniculado lateral dorsal do t?lamo (GLD), o principal rel? tal?mico para as informa??es visuais. Este n?cleo se localiza rostral e lateral ao n?cleo geniculado medial e ventral ao n?cleo pulvinar do t?lamo na maioria dos mam?feros. Nos primatas humanos e n?o humanos, apresenta-se como uma estrutura laminar, disposto em camadas, quando observada em sec??es coronais. O objetivo neste trabalho foi fazer um mapeamento da proje??o retiniana e uma caracteriza??o citoarquitet?nica e neuroqu?mica do GLD no Callithrix jacchus (sag?i), um primata do Novo Mundo. As proje??es retinianas foram tra?adas por transporte anter?grado da subunidade B da toxina col?rica (CTb), a citoarquitetura foi descrita atrav?s do m?todo de Nissl, e para a caracteriza??o neuroqu?mica t?cnicas imunoistoqu?micas foram utilizadas para examinar os principais neurotransmissores e subst?ncias neuroativas presentes neste centro neural. No GLD do t?lamo do sag?i, nas sec??es coronais coradas pelo m?todo de Nissl, foi poss?vel visualizar a divis?o desse n?cleo em quatro camadas dividas em duas por??es: magnocelular e parvocelular. As proje??es retinianas estavam presentes visualizando-se fibras e terminais imunorreativos a CTb (CTb- IR) no GLD ipsolateral e contralateral. E atrav?s das t?cnicas imunoistoqu?micas observou-se que o GLD cont?m c?lulas, fibras e/ou terminais 13 imunorreativos a prote?na nuclear neuronal, subunidades dos receptores AMPA de glutamato (GluR1, GluR2/3, GluR4), colina acetiltransferase, serotonina, descarboxilase do ?cido glut?mico, prote?nas ligantes de c?lcio (calbindina, calretinina e parvalbumina), vasopressina, polipept?deo intestinal vasoativo, e uma prote?na astrocit?ria, prote?na ac?dica fibrilar glial.

<p><a></a><a>The visual system is capable of interpreting immense sensory complexity, allowing us to quickly identify behaviorally relevant stimuli in the environment. It performs this task with a hierarchical organization that works to detect, relay, and integrate visual stimulus features into an interpretable form. To understand the complexities of this system, visual neuroscientists have benefited from the many advantages of using mice as visual models. Despite their poor visual acuity, these animals possess surprisingly complex visual systems, and have been instrumental in understanding how visual features are processed in the primary visual cortex (V1). However, a growing body of literature has shown that primary sensory areas like V1 are capable of more than basic feature detection, but can express neural activity patterns related to learning, memory, categorization, and prediction. </a></p> <p>Visual experience fundamentally changes the encoding and perception of visual stimuli at many scales, and allows us to become familiar with environmental cues. However, the neural processes that govern visual familiarity are poorly understood. By exposing awake mice to repetitively presented visual stimuli over several days, we observed the emergence of low frequency oscillations in the primary visual cortex (V1). The oscillations emerged in population level responses known as visually evoked potentials (VEPs), as well as single-unit responses, and were not observed before the perceptual experience had occurred. They were also not evoked by novel visual stimuli, suggesting that they represent a new form of visual familiarity in the form of low frequency oscillations. The oscillations also required the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) for their induction and expression, highlighting the importance of the cholinergic system in this learning and memory-based phenomenon. Ongoing visually evoked oscillations were also shown to increase the VEP amplitude of incoming visual stimuli if the stimuli were presented at the high excitability phase of the oscillations, demonstrating how neural activity with unique temporal dynamics can be used to influence visual processing.</p> <p>Given the necessity of perceptual experience for the strong expression of these oscillations and their dependence on the cholinergic system, it was clear we had discovered a phenomenon grounded in visual learning or memory. To further validate this, we characterized this response in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome (FX), the most common inherited form of autism and a condition with known visual perceptual learning deficits. Using a multifaceted experimental approach, a number of neurophysiological differences were found in the oscillations displayed in FX mice. Extracellular recordings revealed shorter durations and lower power oscillatory activity in FX mice. Furthermore, we found that the frequency of peak oscillatory activity was significantly decreased in FX mice, demonstrating a unique temporal neural impairment not previously reported in FX. In collaboration with Dr. Christopher J. Quinn at Purdue, we performed functional connectivity analysis on the extracellularly recorded spikes from WT and FX mice. This analysis revealed significant impairments in functional connections from multiple layers in FX mice after the perceptual experience; some of which were validated by another graduate student (Qiuyu Wu) using Channelrhodopsin-2 assisted circuit mapping (CRACM). Together, these results shed new light on how visual stimulus familiarity is differentially encoded in FX via persistent oscillations, and allowed us to identify impairments in cross layer connectivity that may underlie these differences. </p> <p>Finally, we asked whether these oscillations are observable in other brain areas or are intrinsic to V1. Furthermore, we sought to determine if the oscillating unit populations in V1 possess uniform firing dynamics, or contribute differentially to the population level response. By performing paired recordings, we did not find prominent oscillatory activity in two visual thalamic nuclei (dLGN and LP) or a nonvisual area (RSC) connected to V1, suggesting the oscillations may not propagate with similar dynamics via cortico-thalamic connections or retrosplenial connections, <a>but may either be uniquely distributed across the visual hierarchy or predominantly</a> restricted to V1. Using K-means clustering on a large population of oscillating units in V1, we found unique temporal profiles of visually evoked responses, demonstrating distinct contributions of different unit sub-populations to the oscillation response dynamics.</p>